Monday, June 28, 2010

Just shy of a month in steamy Myanmar, from the former capital to the foothills of the north and back again, proved fruitful. The yield includes an estimated half of the operating theaters in the country, plus a few shuttered relics to round out the tally. As theater hunts go, this was the colossus. Voluminous to a whole new level. To be sure, there are numerous gaps in my knowledge of Burmese movie theater history. You'll have to forgive me on that one, but the language barrier was about 3 feet thick. All in all, though, the expedition was most gratifying, worthy of more visits in the future.

I'll begin where I started: Bogyoke Aung San Road, just east of Sule Pagoda Road in downtown Yangon. Cinema Row, as it's commonly known among those who care about such things. There are a whopping six stand-alone theaters side by side along this stretch of city. Serving them up one at a time will be more fun than lumping them all together, so lets start to cut the cake, shall we?